“I love you.” “I love you, too.” I could feel tears welling up in my eyes again, and struggled to fight them off. She pulled away from me just enough to kiss me. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life to pull away from her and walk away, but I did it. I walked backwards for the first few steps, eyes on her as she smiled at me and gave me a small wave goodbye. I glanced up at her forehead, felt myself fall apart all over again at the sight of the sixteen that still rested there, and then looked back down into her eyes. It was the first part of her I’d ever seen, and I wanted it to be
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